Raducanu was given a first-round bye in CaliforniaEmma Raducanu overcame Caroline Garcia of France 6-1 3-6 6-1 at Indian Wells to make it through to the third round.
The 19-year-old British number one raced into a 3-0 lead and, after saving four break points in the fifth game, impressively took the first set.
Garcia was more of a threat in the second set and broke Raducanu three times on the way to levelling.
In the decider, Raducanu again went 3-0 up and was more convincing on her serve as she went on to secure victory.
The US Open champion will play world number 79 Petra Martic of Croatia in the next round.
"I thought the level of tennis was pretty high and it means a lot to have just come through that. It could have gone either way," said Raducanu, who is 13th in the world rankings.
"She plays extremely powerful and fast so as soon as I let up in the second set she climbed on top of it straight away.
"I knew I had to make some adjustments in the third set so I'm really happy that I was able to work that out in the match and come through a tough one."
Raducanu was compromised by a blister when going out in the second round at the Australian Open, and had been able to play only four matches so far this year before facing world number 66 Garcia.
She also had to retire with a leg injury when playing Daria Saville in Guadalajara two weeks ago and there were doubts she would be fit to play in California.
However, Raducanu came through some testing moments against Garcia - in a match lasting one hour 31 minutes - before earning victory.
